This post will close out the last day of the first month of the new year Jan. 31st 2009.

'Los Muñequitos De Matanzas', recorded live in 1978-'79.These recordings are not on any LP or CD.

These for me... are "the best live Muñequitos" recordings.The Quinto player was the late Victoriano "Tití" Espinosaand on the Tumbadora, the late great Gregorio "Goyo" Diaz, back then Jesús Alfonso Miró played Tres Dos, not Quinto.For me,"Tití"was "the Man" within this particular style.His very individualistic style and sound made him a creative "marker", something not easily "learned" in an academic setting.There are no better examples of "Tití's" style then these."Tití" played with Los Muñequitos for ten years, before commiting suicide in the early to mid 1980's.(For me, the most literally "musical" Quinto player was the late Ricardo Abreu - "Papine")

On # 5."Canto a Angola", they start the song singing the melody for "Stranger in Paradise" which is a popular song from the 1953 American musical "Kismet", the melody was based on the original music by Russian composer *'Alexander Borodin', the "Gliding Dance of the Maidens," from 'Alexander Borodin's "Polovetsian Dances". (*1833-1887)

The early 1970's recordings by "Los Munequitos De Nuevo" and the later 1970''s LP's with "Titi" are my favorites.I'm not into the new "tap dancing, chair hopping", "dancing infants", "Cirque Du Soleil" version of the group.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

A few years ago, E.G.R.E.M. reissued the 10 LP's as a 10 CD box set titled "Antología De La Música Afrocubana" beautifully designed and excellently remastered with liner notes by 'Maria Teresa Linares'.These are the covers from the box set, followed by the original vinyl LP front and back covers on Egrem/Areito.

The 10 CD reissued Box set:

CD 1 - Viejos Cantos Afrocubanos

CD 2 - Oru De Igbodú(Matanzas style Batá)

CD 3 - Música Iyesá

CD 4 - Música Arará

CD 5 - Tambor Yuca

(the players in this recording are drunk, one guy even threatens to hit another guy in the head with the Guataca)

Superb vocals, great coros and nice drumming, but for me after 3 or 4 songs the drum "formula" can get boring.Nice addition of a Pello El Afrokan Mozambique. First class production mixed very well with great sound in a nicely designed digipakNow alternatively, this for me never gets boring.

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Welcome to Fidels Eyeglasses!

Cuban LP's and recordings which include particular "styles" and "forms" of (playing & singing) "Cuban" music that unfortunately have become, or are on their way to becoming lost art forms.As well as related materiel which may not be "directly" from Cuba.

Mostly LP's that are either long out of print and-or obscure and music from "my own personal collection".

Occasionally some Brasilian things will be added that are hard to find, even on the other great Brasilian blogs, many that are listed in my Blog links.And maybe some things that have nothing to do with Cuban or Brasilian music.

It takes time to do all this, scanning the covers, resizing and uploading, often changing & correcting the info.

****NOTE: DIVSHARE HAS GONE OUT OF BUSINESS WHICH MEANS MANY HUNDREDS OF SOUND FILES ON THIS BLOG WHICH TOOK 6 YEARS TO COMPILE ARE DEAD, SOME ARE STILL PLAYABLE, BUT UNTIL I FIND A NEW SOUND FILE HOST SERVICE, MANY WON'T PLAY.

About Me

Professional musician / percussionist.
Living, working and teaching in Manhattan, N.Y.C., U.S.A.
Born and raised in Manhattan, N.Y.C.
Lived in New Orleans from 1972 to 1986.
Produced and hosted the first Cuban music radio program in New Orleans on WWOZ from 1980-1986.
Been back in N.Y.C. 28 years and planing on getting the hell out very soon.